Construction of concrete poles



C. D. MGARTHUR CONSTRUCTION oF CONCRETE PoLEs Filed June l5, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 28

A TTORNEYS @ai ifa Sept. 28 1926.

Filed June 15, 1923 c. D. McAR'rHuR CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE POLES 3 Sheets-Shea?I 2 A'T'ToRNEx/s sept. 28,1926. 1,601,182

C. D. MGARTHUR CONSTRUCTION 0F CONCRETE PoLEs WIT/V551 me Patented Sept. 2%, i932..

KNOX JERSEY.

Fic;

COMPANY, OF lil?ITTSIS'lRG-l'., PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION CF NEVI CONSTRUCTION onooncnn'rn roLns.

Application 'filed .Tune 15, 1923. Serial No. 645,524.

My invention relates tov the construction of concrete poles and the like.

Heretofore, concrete poles for telegraph and telephone lines, electric lighting circuits, etc., have beencast or molded at a central plant, then transported [to thel points of use, and there erected or set in holes dug Afor them `in the usual manner vJust about like wooden or steel poles. In order to have thefbearn 'strength kto stand handling and Shipping in this manner (for the most part on their sides), suchconcret'e poles require more metal reinforcement than their ultimate service as poles would call for; and in order to be light enough for transportation and handling in the ordinaryway, such poles must be fabricated with less concrete in their cross section than isreally needed to protect their reinforcement adequately. 20 it best, the handling, transportation and erection of the poles is a rather Vtroublesome and costly matter.

l aim to overcome this and other draw'- backs of present practice by constructing and setting concrete poles in situ, so as to do away with the necessityfor transporting and handling the poles. in this way, it becomes practicable to put into the poles enough concrete to protect their reinforcement e'ectually, and thus malte them last longer, while at the same ytime economizing' on the reinforcement itself. My invention also allows the labor cost of a pole line to be reduced, by constructingor fabricating the poles ready set tight and Virmin their holes. ,l Y Various other advantages obtainable through my invention will appear from my description hereinafter of the best methods and apparatus fory the purpose that are known to me.

lln the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation illustrating the Vmolding of a pole upright in its hole in accordance with my invention, by means of a novelapparatus or machine which l have devised for the purpose.v

Fig. 2 is an elevationof the machine alo-ne from the left of Fig. l, withvarious parts in section as indicated by the line 2 2 in that figure.

`F ig. 3 is a fragmentary plan View of partsv at the top ofthe machine, on a 'larger' scale than Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. i shows a fragmentary sectional view through the upper portion of the machine on a still larger scale, taken as indicated by the line M Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the apparatus collapsed (so to speak) for hauling to or Vfrom the job or eldbf use.

`Fig. 1 shows a hollow pole vmold forni 10 .set more or less upright 'over a hole H, Vso that form and hole together afford one/continuous mold. As shown, the hole H is without lining of any sort. The metal rods or other reinforcements tfor the pole are appropriately held in place in the form, and entend from above the ground down Yinto the hole H. As shown, indeed, they eX- tend from one end of the mold cavity to the other: i. e., from the top of the form 10 to the earth bottom of the hole H. When the concrete is poured, it fills the mold rcavity and einbeds the reinforcementh.

By thus Vforming the pole erect with the hole H as part of the mold, all necessity for filling in and tamping down earth in the vhole 'around the pole is obviated; and the pole is at once set more solidly and firmly inthe ground than itcould be by ta1nping, even when skillfully done, which is often not the case. i standard size is required, and it need not (in many cases) be dug quite so deep, if the grouncl is firm. Y

As shown, the forin l0 is divided `longitudinally l into half-round sections with fianges 12 detachably bolted together, so that the form can readily Abe removed from the pole moldedtherein as soon as the concrete has set suficiently,-say in about 24 hours after pouring. F or convenience in manufacture and shipment, the forni 10 is similarly sectionalized transversely, as indicated by the flange joints 13 in each longitudinal half. is a vmeans of compensating for oversize orother possible irregularities of pole holes, a cover plate li (apertured in correspondence with the internal Vcawity of the form' l0) may be interposed between the form 10 and the earth around the hole H, for Vthe form to stand on. Like the form 10 itself, the cover 11i may be divided for c`onvenience in removal; and its halves may be bolted to the' lowerinost 'flanges 13 of the corresponding forro halves.

Only a hole of niiniinuni in order to assure that the mold cavity shall be solidly and uniformly filled, it is preferable to lill it from the bottom upward and to deliver the concrete always at the continually rising bottom ot the decreasing mold cavity. with some little force or pressure. is shown. the concrete is supplied under pressure from a pneumatic mixture 15, through a conduit 1G whose discharge end or nozzle 1T can be lowered through the open upper end ot the form to the initial earth bottom ot the mold cavity` and then progressively drawn upward as the mold is illed. For this purpose, a mast or tower structure 2O may be provided, for supporting the conduit 16. These and their acces series, including an internal combustion engine or other enclosed power plant 21, are mounted on a wheeled vehicle or truck 2Q, so that they can be conveniently movedl along from pole hole to pole hole, and hauled from one job to another. lVhile a mold is being filled, the form 10 may be braced and held upright trom the tower 20, by means oi braces Q3 bolted to the tower structure and to the mold flanges 13.

For serving the mixture with cement and mineral aggregate (such vas sand and broken stone) y there is a conveyor or skipbuckethoist Qi whose inclined ways are pivoted at one end to bracket plates on a double triangular frame struct-ure QG at whose apices are the pulleys Q7 for the bucket hoisting cables 2S. In operation, these cables 2S are wound on or unwound from a drum BO mounted on the frame 26, and reversibly driven from the power plant 21 through belting 31. Then the ways 25 are in service, lateral lugs 32 about at their middle rest in the notched ends of brackets 83 projecting from the front ot' the vehicle 9.2; at other times, they may be swung up out ot the way, to afford access to the pull member 34 attached to the front axle of the vehicle. lVhen the skip bucket 24 is drawn up the ways 25 by the cables 2S, its iront strikes and raises the lid 35 of a charging opening in the mixer cover 3G; also, its front wheels or rollers 37 are arrested by stops on the ways 25, causing it to tilt (about as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) and dump its contents into the mixer. Compressed air to operate the mixer 15 and leed or force the mixed concrete through the conduit 16 is supplied from a compressor forming part ot the power plant 21, through piping 39.

Ars shown in Fig. 1, al portion 1G of the conduit 16 associated with the tower 20 is flexible, and extends in a height over a support-ing guide 4r() through which it can be payed out or taken up to lower it into or draw it out of the form 10. The provisions shown t'or thus paying out or taking up the conduit 16 will be described hereinafter.

T he guide t0 comprises anumber of groovededged sheaves il whose mounting' is carried by a supporting arm 42 clampably pivoted at L13 to a bracket at the top ot a \.ertieally adjustable topmast member or structure #il that telescopes with the main strutture of the tower Q0. As shown in l, 2 and 3, this structure di is ot forked contiguration, consisting ot vertical channels -15 interconnected by horizontal members` i6 and sliding between and against guide parts li and 8, with a standard composed ot channels 19 back to back connected to its members d6 and carrying the pivoted support arm The vertical adjustment of the supif port 42 takes care of differences in the lengths ot the Jforms 10 used on dill'ereni jobs, while its horizontal nnivement allows the machine to fill a form to one side of it, instead of in iront of it as in Fig, 1.

As here shown, the supply conduit 1G extends from the discharge outlet oit' the mixer 15 along beneath the vehicle platform, then up within the truss-built tower l'rame 2O to an elevated point, and then bends down at 50, being held in place by supporting brackets 51 at suital le intervals. rlhe flexible delivery portion 16 is connected to the portion 1G at 50, extends downward therefrom some distance. witnin the tower 20. and then bends upward around the sheave ot a pulley-block 52 and extends to the guide means ylll-where it bends downward once more into position for lowering into the torni 1t), or vice-versa, as already explained. it will be seen y there fore, that by shitting the block 52 up or down, the flexible conduit 16 will be paid out or taken up. As here shown, provision is made for doingthis by means ot a cable 53, which is attached to the lower end o the block 52, extends down and around pulleys 55, then up and makes a number in" turns around a. drum 5G, and finally on up over pulleys 57, and down to an attachment to the block 52 again. The drum f3 can be revolved either way, to raise or hiv-fer the pulley block 52. fis shownf it is revcrsibi).Y d iven trom the power plant 2 by a beit 5S. The forked construction of the supporting means at i5, 15 affords free space within the tower Q0 'for the block to more up and down without interference.

For convenience in hauling, provision is preferably made for lowering the tower or mast 2O and reere'cting it at will. ln the present instance, this is accomplished by a folding or tilting action, rather than b v a collapsing one. For this purpose. the main portion of the tower Q0 is pivoted to a base portion (3() (more permanently and ixcdly attached to the vehicle chassis or platrorm, coneentrically with the rotary drum ot the mechanism for paying out and taking up the 'conduit 1G. is shown in l. J

and 5, the shaft or spindles (31 of this druni 1.. lll

,kWh-1.53?

Vraised to 'the vertical position of F ig. l or lowered, ultimately, to the substantially horizontal position of Fig. 5. TWhen raised, the tower 20 can be securely locked by means of a latch device 67 (Figs. l and 2). As shown, the metal supply pipe or conduit 16 for the concrete is mad-e in separate sections with a Vsuitable self-tightening joint at 68 to per` mit this movement. lVhen the tower 20 is lowered, its forward uprights engage and rest on lugs or seats69 at either side of the conveyor fra-me 26, and it is'thus sustained and held against either vertical movement or lateral shifting or distortion.V l,When the tower 20 is thus lowered, the skip ways 25 may be hooked up to it, as already 'mentioned, by the hook-ended link means 70. At such times, the pivot of the conduit support 42 can be clamped tight at A3 tc hold it out of the way.

l/Vhat I claim is:

l. Apparatus for constructing and setting a concrete pole in situ comprising an apertured cover for a pole hole, a longitudinally divisible sectional form adapted to stand upright on said cover, and a concrete deliv` ery conduit with means for lowering the same through said form to the bottom of the hole and progressively drawing it upward as the mold cavity of hole and form is progressively filled from it.

2. Apparatus for constructing and setting a concrete pole in situ comprising a hollow form for cooperation with a pole hole, a concrete delivery conduit, and a movable tower with means for holding the form upright over the pole hole and means for low` ering and drawing up the conduit through the form.

3, Apparatus of the character described comprising a vehicle with a tower and means for sustaining a pole mold form upright therefrom, a concrete mixer on said vehicle, and means carried by said tower for feeding concrete from said mixer into such form shiftable up andv down, and in and out of the form.

' 4f. Apparatus of the character described comprising a movably mounted tower and means for sustaining a pole mold form upright therefrom, a concrete delivery conduit, and means carried by said towerl for lowering anddrawing up the conduit through the mold cavity.

l 5. Apparatus of the character described comprising avvehicle with a tower and means from, ya concrete delivery conduit Ecarried Vby said tower for'insertion downward into the form to fill it, and a pneumatic mixer carried by the vehicle for forcing ,concrete through said conduit into the mold.

i`6 Apparatus of .the character described comprising a movably mounted tower, a flex.- ible concrete delivery conduit, means on said tower for supporting and guiding said con` duit in a bight, to permit it to be lowered or drawn up through a mold, and means also carried by the movable structure for paying out and taking up said conduit.

7. Apparatus of the character described comprising a movably mounted tower, a. concrete supply conduit extending to an elevated point on said tower, guide means at an elevated point on said tower, a flexiblek conduit connected to said supply conduit extending downward and then bending upward and over said guide means, and means engaging the upward bend of said exible conduit movable up and down to pay out the conduit or take it up.

8. Apparatus of the character described comprising a movably mounted tower, a concrete supply conduit extending to an elevated point on said tower, a forked support telescoping with said tower and carrying overhanging guide means, a flexible conduit connected to said supply conduit extending downward and then bending upward and over said guide means, and means engaging the upward bend of said flexible conduit movable up and down, in the free space within the tower afforded by the forked construction of said support, to payout the conduit or take it up.

9. Apparatus of the character described comprising a vehicle, an erectable tower and a concrete mixer carried by said vehicle, means on the vehicle for elevating and lowering said tower, a flexible conduit for delivering the mixed concrete from said tower, when elevated, to a pole form, and means for paying out or taking up said conduit.

10. Apparatus of the character described comprising a vehicle, a concrete mixer and a base structure on said vehicle, a folding tower on said base, a flexible conduit for delivering the mixed concrete from said tower to an upright pole form, with guide means for said conduit carried by said tower, and means for paying outl or taking up said conduit including a rotary element concentric with the folding movement of said tower. Y

11. Apparatus of the character described comprising a vehicle with a concrete mixer thereon, a tower on said vehicle foldable lengthwise thereof' down-over the same, with means for delivering the mixed concrete from said tower, when elevated, to an upright pole form, and conveyor means for CII serving the mixer including a frame struetuie engaging and sustaining the tower When lowered.

l2. Apparatus of the character described Comprising a. vehicle with a concrete inixer and a folding tower thereon, a vertically adjustable and horizontally swingable support Carried by said tower, a. flexible conduit for delivering the mixed concrete to a pole forni, and means carried by said support for guiding and sustaining said conduit vin a bight, to permit it to be loweied or drawn up in i mold.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed niy naine.

CHARLES D. BICRTHUR. 

